Karen

There Isn’t Any Room Left in This New Holiday Set Because It Already Includes Everything Nice: The New $56 Too Faced Cosmetics Everything Nice Set, a Holiday Sephora Exclusive

September 25th, 2014 by Karen 19 Comments

Question: What do you get when you mix a dash of sugar, a pinch of spice and heaping handfuls of everything nice?

Answer: The new $56 Everything Nice Set by Too Faced Cosmetics.

From under the glittery pink Christmas tree at Too Faced headquarters comes this limited edition holiday Sephora exclusive — the big blockbuster kit from the Too Faced Christmas collection — and it sparkles with a hot pink makeup bag, three tiny Cruelty-Free Teddy Bear Hair brushes (two eye brushes and one for bronzing/blush), a step-by-step Glamour Guide with directions for a number of looks, a deluxe sample-sized tube (translation: slightly bigger than a regular sample size) of Better Than Sex Mascara, and a festive, feminine palette filled with 20 eyeshadows, two blushes, a bronzer and highlighter.

In total, a $450 value.

Too Faced Everything Nice Set Eyeshadows — The Too Faced Everything Nice Set eyeshadows…

Too Faced Everything Nice Set blushes, bronzer, highlighter, brushes and mascara — Blushes, bronzer, highlighter, brushes and mascara…

Everything to me, from the hand-drawn artwork on the palette’s cover, to the disco glam pink makeup bag, to the makeup color choices, seems true to the Too Faced brand. Girly, glam and totally wearable…with a little extra sass thrown in for good measure (because one never knows when one will get the urge to start trouble).

The 20 eyeshadows? Dude, you could do so many different eye looks with this palette! Roughly three quarters of them are neutrals…but not the kind of neutrals that make me want to hit the snooze button. Among them are mattes, metallics and glitters in a range of warm and cool tones.

And just to keep things interesting, there are also splashes of pink, mauve, taupe and gold.

Too Faced Everything Nice Set Swatches from the left: Turtle Dove, Dream On, After Hours, Fawned of You and Knockout — Swatches from the left: Turtle Dove, Dream On, After Hours, Fawned of You and Knockout

Too Faced Everything Nice Set swatches from the left: Paper Roses, Kindness Is Free, Mauvelous, Be You and Secret Lovers — Paper Roses, Kindness Is Free, Mauvelous, Be You and Secret Lovers

Too Faced Everything Nice Set swatches from the left: Heaven, Shiny Happy, Honey Pot, Don't Settle and Girly — Heaven, Shiny Happy, Honey Pot, Don’t Settle and Girly

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Bring the Brow Bar With You: Get a Pencil, Wax and Comb for $9 With the L’Oreal Brow Stylist Sculptor

September 25th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

As far as successful rebellion campaigns go, the long-running one being waged by my brows has been quite successful…from their point of view. If I had a fat tabby for every sparse spot or stray brow, I’d be living the cat lady high life, I tell ya.

L'Oreal Brow Stylist Sculptors in Blonde and Deep Brunette — Two of the three L’Oreal Brow Stylist Sculptors in Blonde and Deep Brunette

Lately my forces have been attempting to squash the rebellion with L’Oreal’s new Brow Stylist Sculptor ($8.99, and available in Blonde, Brunette and Dark Brunette), a dual-ended product that comes with a pencil for brow filling on one end and a clear, matte setting wax on the other.

But that’s not all. You also get a stiff brush for combing through those unruly brow hairs, which is quite handy. It’s built right into one of the caps.

Just fill in any sparse spots using the brow filling pencil, comb through with the brush, and set the hairs in place with the wax.

I won’t go so far as to say that I’ve squashed the rebellion with these, but we’ve made progress…

I wear Deep Brunette, the darkest shade. It’s a dark neutral brown with a slight gray undertone. The brow pencil end feels waxy and soft, much like Benefit’s Brow Pencils. When I use it, I think my brows look great for five or six hours, but the formula breaks up slowly as the day wears on. On top of that, the wax only offers light control, and the bushiest parts of my brows could use something with stiffer hold.

L'Oreal Brow Stylist Sculptor in Deep Brunette Before (left) and After (right) — Wearing Deep Brunette, before (left) and after (right)

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Jean Patou Joy Forever Eau De Parfum: Just Add Dress and Heels When You Want to Feel Dainty and Girly

September 24th, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

Like a black a-line dress that fits you so perfectly that Michael Kors himself would chase you down to get the name of the designer because Michael knows — HE KNOWS! — that you didn’t buy that off the “last chance” rack at T.J. Maxx, and that the gifted hands of a fashion phenom somewhere must have stitched it together specifically for you.

Anyway, yeah. That’s how Jean Patou’s Joy Forever Eau de Parfum makes me feel.

Fashionable. Feminine. A girl who turns heads.

Crisp floral Joy Forever, while un-joyously expensive ($110 for a 1.6-oz. bottle), starts with a splash. After a couple hours, bright top notes of bergamot, Mandarin orange and malbanum (an aromatic gum resin) fade to a lush floral middle of jasmine, rose, orris, marigold, orange flower and peach notes, before drying down to a warm, cozy base of cedarwood, sandalwood, white musk and amber.

Just add dress and heels when you want to feel dainty and girly. 🙂

The 1.6-oz. bottle shown here is $110, and you can find it now at Neiman Marcus stores and online.

Herbal Essences Tea-Lightfully Clean Shampoo and Conditioner Are Two Tea-Riffic Hair Helpers

September 24th, 2014 by Karen 4 Comments

Herbal Essences Tea-Lightfully Clean Shampoo and Conditioner

When I lather up with new Tea-Lightfully Clean Shampoo and Conditioner by Herbal Essences (just $3 each), I feel a bit perkier and better about my day. With these two tea-riffic hair helpers, you really do get a lot of perky for your buck.

Both have a refreshingly crisp green apple and mint scent, and when coupled with the light tingly sensation (it’s really mild, nothing like a sting at all), I definitely feel spunkier. Apparently, a stimulated scalp equals an invigorated Karen. Who knew?

Tea tree oil in both of the products also adds a little moisture and lots of bounce to my ‘do.

Yes, girlfriend, you know how I feel about big hair. 🙂

They’re available now at drugstores and online for $3.

Well worth a sniff.

Spray, Spray the Easy Way With Kiss My Face Air Kiss 2 in 1 Light Moisturizing Lotion

September 24th, 2014 by Karen 10 Comments

Kiss My Face Air Kiss 2 in 1 Light Moisturizing Lotion in Aah... Lavender Shea ($9.99) — The new Kiss My Face Air Kiss 2 in 1 Light Moisturizing Lotion in “aah…” Lavender Shea ($9.99)

If I skip using moisturizer on my body for one day — just one day — my arms, legs and feet take on the rich patina of a fake crocodile handbag.

In other words, they get bad.

Not fire and brimstones bad, but pretty gnarly, nonetheless.

Big sigh…

There’s never enough time to do everything you need to do, you know? That’s why efficiency is so important, as are products that help you save time, even products I kinda sorta already have, like body lotions.

El Hub would probably disagree with this statement: I really do need another body lotion on my bathroom shelf.

Too bad for El Hub. 🙂

New cruelty-free Kiss My Face Air Kiss 2 in 1 Light Moisturizing Lotion in “aah…” Lavender Shea ($9.99) is unlike any of the other moisturizing lotions in my stash.

Kiss My Face Air Kiss 2 in 1 Light Moisturizing Lotion in my paw for scale — In my paw for scale

It’s a lightweight, continuous spray body lotion that shoots out in a fine mist, almost like an aerosol hairspray.

Kiss My Face Air Kiss 2 in 1 Light Moisturizing Lotion Ingredients — What’s in it?

Moisturizing sunflower seed oil, glycerin, shea butter and aloe vera are near the top of the ingredient list, which is free of parabens and phthalates, and like all of the Kiss My Face brand’s products, Air Kiss isn’t tested on animals. It’s also eco-friendly, as the spray is powered by compressed air. Not chemical propellants.

Kiss My Face Air Kiss 2 in 1 Light Moisturizing Lotion — Here’s how to use it…

Hold the bottle about four inches from your skin, and give it a few good spritzes (the bottle even works upside down!). Then rub the fast-absorbing lotion into your arms, legs, bootie, boobies, etc.

Unlike most oil-based body spray moisturizers (which are also pretty quick to use), Air Kiss doesn’t leave a greasy or sticky residue.

This stuff is lightning fast, and I can literally be done moisturizing in less than 30 seconds. By far, it’s the quickest body moisturizer in my bathroom right now.

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When Lips Are Thirsty, Pop Hits the Spot: L’Oreal Balm Pop Lip Balm

September 24th, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

L'Oreal Balm Pops — The new Balm Pop line by L’Oreal

L’Oreal’s been dropping balms, baby!

They recently unleashed three new lines of lip balms, each offering a different level of coverage. There are the Balm Nudes for sheer color, the high coverage Glossy Balm Crayons — your tickets to full-on pigment paradise — and the Balm Pops (four of the six available shades shown here) for medium coverage.

Four of the six L'Oreal Balms Pops, $7.99 each — Four of the six L’Oreal Balm Pop lip balms, $7.99 each

First, that’s a lot of lip balm…

Unless you spice them up with lip liner, lipstick or gloss, at some point, some of the shades start to look the same.

At least they do on my pigmented lips, but since my frequently dry, flaky pout can use all the moisture it can get, I can’t help but make crazy Jan Brady eyes whenever I spot a new lip balm on a store shelf.

L’Oreal’s new Balm Pops ($7.99) are pretty cool… Smooth and non-sticky, with a faint brown sugar flavor and scent, they feel a lot like Benefit’s $18 Tinted Lip Balms.

L'Oreal Balms Pop from the left to the right: Wild Lily, Bold Blush, Fiery Red and Electric Pink — From left to right: Wild Lily, Bold Blush, Fiery Red and Electric Pink

L'Oreal Balm Pop in 410 Wild Lily — Wild Lily

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Answer This: If I Could Just Find a ______, My Biggest Makeup Problem Would Be Solved.

September 24th, 2014 by Karen 47 Comments

Among the contenders for makeup problems that have plagued me off and on throughout the years, but for which I currently have viable options — finding a perfect full-coverage under-eye concealer that looks natural, doesn’t call out my fine lines, and doesn’t have a tricky pump or come in a fragile glass bottle; finding a perfect foundation match so that I didn’t have to mix two shades (not even my favorites from MAC, NARS and BECCA have a single perfect match for my skin); or finding a perfect pimple-covering concealer that doesn’t aggravate my acne — this time around I’m going to go with storage.

If I could just find a better way to store my makeup — one that was cute, efficient, kinda different, not too expensive, and didn’t involve a million little screws from Ikea — my biggest (current) makeup problem would be solved.

Being a packrat makeup lover, I feel the need to hoard every coral lipstick and gloss on the planet.

This has been a problem for me.

Right now I use a bunch of clear stacking drawers from the Container Store, and it gets the job done, but I would love a cuter, more functional solution that made me smile instead of cringe when I saw it…maybe like a vintage hutch with tons of drawers and personality.

Answer this: If I could just find a ______, my biggest makeup problem would be solved.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Happy hump day. 🙂

Murad Transforming Powder Dual-Action Cleanser and Exfoliator

September 23rd, 2014 by Karen 13 Comments

Murad Transforming Powder Dual-Action Cleanser and Exfoliator

There’s something so dang satisfying about exfoliating, especially in the morning. I’m all, “Hey, pores! Take that!”

Sometimes I play as if all of the dead skin cells are being Swiffered away…

I wonder if I am alone in this. 🙂

Lately I’ve been using this new exfoliating product with salicylic acid (which my skin lurves) by Murad called Transforming Powder Dual-Action Cleanser & Exfoliator ($30 for a 0.5-oz. bottle). It’s made for acne-prone skin like mine.

You dispense a small amount of the powder (yup, powder) into your palm, add water, work that into a lather, and then massage it all over your face and neck.

The bottle has a special stopper at the top to regulate how much comes out, so no worries about accidentally pouring out half of the bottle at one time (something I would otherwise almost certainly have done).

According to Murad, water activates bio-enzymes in the powder that digest oil, dirt and dead skin cells, while dissolving beads then smooth and soften the skin.

Wait — did she just say that it digests oil, dirt and dead skin cells?

Yes, she did.

Eww…

But it works!

The exfoliation is slightly more aggressive than the AmorePacific Treatment Enzyme Peel I usually use, but I wouldn’t call it scratchy or irritating, by any means. It’s still pretty gentle.

A couple of rand-o pimples popped up near my hairline last week, and Dual-Action Cleanser & Exfoliator seems to be helping.

It’s available now for $30 online, and at Sephora and Ulta.